Grand Finale
by TheNewIdea
Summary: Direct sequel to Sight, set only a few months later. Iago visits the grave of the person who changed his life that faithful night in the rain. This really is the Grand Finale for this character, as all stories involving Iago connect in some way or another. This is to test the exact opposite end of the emotional spectrum that Sight examined.


Grand Finale

The cemetery was almost completely empty, for apparently everyone on the planet had decided that they were going to live today, expect for one person. Iago stood in front of a single headstone, staring at the most important parts of its design, the name and the dash in between the years. Immediately below the first name was another one that bore equal importance, its beginning and end only spanned a single day.

Iago looked around, noticing that he was virtually alone and sighed, for he had begun life the same way that he would soon end it, sad and alone. The world had finally dealt Iago his final hand and he was going to play it. Iago turned his attention back to the headstone and moved his wing over the two names that meant so much and spoke, "I'm sorry" Iago whispered to himself, "I wish that it were me. What I wouldn't give to die, if only to save you both, for you had more to offer." Iago then began crying uncontrollably, his wings were shaking, he could barely breathe, still he continued, "It's a funny thing" he said as he brought his wing over the second name, "you were going to be great. Greater than me, in fact you're so great that your name on this headstone says Dead Parrot. Ain't that the truth eh?" Iago pulled out a small rose and sat it in front in of the grave, "We were going to give you a name. But before we could one of us had to go away for a long time. We were going to name you after me, it would've fit you perfectly, son." Iago breathed in, trying to regain his composure and failing, "I would've taught you so many things. I would've taken you fishing, I'd show you how to mess with Abu and Aladdin, and I would've shown you where to find the good stuff, the gold, the jewels that kind of thing."

Iago sat down Indian style in front of the grave and leaned in, as if he was waiting for a response. He obviously didn't get one, but in his head he heard his own voice masquerading as his son's, it was clear and defined. "Of course" Iago began again, "Your mother would've taught you the really important things, how to love and be loved, how to give, how to look at the world, the important stuff like that. But she also would've taught you how to stand up for yourself, how to stand by for the things that you believe in, how not to take shit from anybody. There's a lot that she could've taught you, if I were to name everything I would be here for almost a month!" Iago forced himself to laugh in order to make himself feel better but it did exactly the opposite and only reaffirmed his aloneness.

The bird stopped and gently rubbed the headstone. Iago closed his eyes and let his mind drift back to the night his life changed forever, the night he met Yolanda. Iago smiled to himself, content in the fact that this was going to be his final thought. Iago opened his eyes and pulled out a revolver, checking the round that was inside, making sure that it was the last turn. Iago then opened his beak and began slowly going through the empty chambers, each one giving a death defying click. Iago stopped at five, took in a final breath and fired.

Nothing happened. Iago took the gun out of his beak and inspected it, pointing it at the nearest tree. No sooner had he done this did the gun go off, the bullet hitting the bark and going into the tree. Iago stared at the gun in disbelief, if he had only anticipated a misfire, if he had only waited a few more seconds then he would've been dead. Iago began to shake even more at the prospect of life, of a life lived alone. Iago then began to cry harder than he had ever cried in his entire life; all he wanted to do was be with them. "Please..." Iago began as he crumbled inside himself, "why won't you let me die?" He looked towards the sky, "Why won't you let me be happy! What did I ever do to deserve such a life?" Iago hovered above the ground in order to at least feel dead, he flew high into the clouds and tried to maintain his balance even in the high winds. "All I ever did" Iago continued, "was dare to love. Is that a bad thing? Was I meant to be alone forever?" Silence. Iago sighed and allowed himself to fall, not bothering to catch himself. As he felt the wind through his feather as he entered free fall, Iago knew that this is what it felt like to die. He smiled as he thought about, when he got to the last thousand feet, he began laughing and he continued to laugh all the way down until his back, neck and internal organs were destroyed as he made contact with his family's headstone, his body finally resting on the back side of it, his head slumped over and body on its side.

Iago left the world in the same way he had entered it, alone. But in a way, he was never alone, for his wife and son had helped him in the effort; they were holding his wings the entire time, as if through Iago's death they would be together. Iago's spiritual fate cannot be known, as for his body, it was found by a humble caretaker. The caretaker upon seeing the bird pulled out a shovel and began digging the plot of the double headstone. Now, the double headstone is a triple headstone, the only one of its kind in the cemetery.

For weeks people came to see this headstone, but it wasn't because of the names, it wasn't because of the dashes, it was because of the fact that it was a single plot with three individuals. The caretaker upon seeing this dug up Iago's remains and buried him in the plot next to his family. As soon as that happened the people stopped coming. The caretaker smiled as he looked at the two graves, saying nothing, it wasn't that he couldn't find the right words to say, but rather that he was physically unable to. This caretaker was nothing more than a simple sidekick by Disney standards. His thick black hair, huge nose and wart on the right side of his face made him feared by most people. His nasally laugh was increasingly annoying, as a result, the caretaker rarely socialized with people and even then it was only a select group of friends. This caretaker was none other than Lefou.

Lefou pulled out a two roses and placed one at each of the graves, before walking out of the cemetery and making his way home, just as the sun hit the horizon, bringing on the coming of the night and the dawn of the morning to come.


End file.
